CR professionals have their work cut out these days. With all the measuring, justifying, promoting, communicating and benchmarking they are required to manage, it would be easy to get caught up in the detail of the day-to-day activity and forget to make time for the bigger picture. 

Businesses can hold a great deal of responsibility for the evolution of CSR, affecting and encouraging change and continuing to attempt new and improved ways of achieving social change through their programmes.  There need to be leaders in CR to show the way, and while these could come from almost anywhere in the sector, an authentic corporate leader is always pretty convincing by comparison.

In order to become one of these voices, even in a modest way, you need to be brave.  You need to have something different, unusual, perhaps even uncomfortable.  Leaders (almost by definition) are not restricted by what has passed before, and they understand how to be creative with big ideas and concepts.

Why make time for Bravery?

Bravery is key in so many areas. Trying something new, breaking convention, risking failure, engaging with challenging causes and stepping out of your comfort zone all take bravery, and in my opinion tackling CR issues in a real way should always hinge on this.

While this may appear to speak more to the corporate sector, it is also true for the charity sector. For example, a charity needs to be brave to clearly explain the business case for supporting them. 

Bravery also has relevance internally in a company or charity. It will allow you to question policies, champion ideas that could meet resistance and boldly seek buy-in from senior colleagues to drive things forward.

As with so many things, a little confidence can go a long way!

Conclusion

Obviously, being well informed and intelligent about CR is crucial. However, without a little bravery to stand by your convictions and follow them through, your CR activity could be at risk of being a little pedestrian. To ensure that a CR programme speaks to the uniqueness of each company and charity partnership, to move beyond the norm of activity practiced by the many and to deliver truly holistic impacts for all parties, remember to be brave.

Andy Grazebrook, Senior Company Relations Manager, CAF

Read A is for Alignment

‘C is for’ will be coming soon!

A few weeks ago, in a CR development workshop for one of our clients, we asked the attendees to individually write down what CR is. The responses were interesting, and whilst contributing to the workshop, it also gave me the idea for this blog.

Many organisations have tried to create a universal definition for CR, (an overview of some is given here). In my opinion, some good, some less so. My main thought is that it all appears a bit too academic for an area of business that is different for each organisation, each industry, each culture.

Due to this variance, I always find it interesting discussing the perceptions of what CR actually is, practically within organisations.

I asked a few colleagues from around CAF, some with knowledge of CR, others who focus on other areas. I promised not to name names, but here are some of the thoughts of my colleagues…

“The conscience of the organisation, (rather cynically) motivated not by true altruism but by the desire or necessity to be regarded as a decent organisation by peer or stakeholder organisations whose opinions could effect the success of the organisation in question.”

Learning and Development Team Member

“I think CSR needs to be embedded throughout the company - I think paying for membership of certain organisations or adopting certain logos does not mean a company has an active CSR programme - it’s moved beyond just making monetary donations.”

Company Relations Manager

“I believe that CSR is a business’ way of delivering a positive social impact.”

Senior Company Relations Manager

“Companies undertaking positive activities that benefit the communities they impact, their focus can be different dependent on who their most important stakeholder is.”

Company Relations Manager

It is interesting that the first quotation, from someone not involved in CR, focuses purely on reputational issues, highlighting the perception problem of CR that clearly exists, but potentially not given enough thought by the CR sector?

The remaining thoughts, focus on social impact, and touch on the need to be strategic CR rather than chequebook philanthropy.

So, having seen these, I better put my cards on the table! For me CR is “a strategic focus on developing a long term business that creates benefits for multiple stakeholders whilst striving to reduce its negative impacts”. I have pushed for further embedding in the core business whilst emphasising broader benefits, but also highlighting that CR is often about not doing something – which can be very difficult.

What do you think?

Jonathan Gill, Corporate Advisory Manager, CAF

If you want to understand what CR means to your business contact our Advisory and Consultancy Team who can help you host a exploratory workshop.

If London 2012 achieves a lasting legacy it will be for the very same reasons these games have been such a success for audiences – focus and expectations. Being clear about where the focus should be and realistic about the expectations.

In its modern version, the Olympics are one of the world’s biggest festivals of sport, bringing together around 10,500 athletes from 204 National Olympic Committees competing in 26 sports. In terms of volume, it’s roughly the equivalent of 20 Football World Cups in one fortnight. Nothing else compares.

Before the sport got underway I feel there were lots of embarrassing and controversial moments including:

• the logo which is considered by some as a travesty and was virtually invisible at venues I have attended
• the torch which can be compared to a garden ornament
• the ticketing process which compares with the national lottery
• American celebrities without a permanent home in Britain as torch bearers

The focus of Lord Coe

However, the great success of London 2012 – from the initial bid to the current games – has been its leadership under Lord Coe. Ultimately he is  an athlete who won two gold medals and he has always maintained the focus on what matters - the sport. So the track in the Olympic Stadium is softer than Beijing, making it faster, the velodrome is an elegant masterpiece designed to create conditions for maximum speed, the aquatic centre has wings with thousands of additional seats, and the pitch for the hockey is blue which makes it easier to follow with a yellow ball.

Now, while the whole country is watching, it’s easy to get carried away in the euphoria and assume that for years to come the public will flock to watch swimming competitions, learn to love basketball and turn out to support the next gold medal shooter.

Realistic expectations

This is where the team at LOCOG (London Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games)have been particularly impressive. They have realistic expectations about what will or will not be a permanent legacy. So the Aquatic Centre will be turned into a community venue with a crèche, and reduced seating to host a more modest 2,500, the basketball arena will be deconstructed and may be used in Rio, the stands at the Royal Artillery Barracks will be packed away and the property returned to the MoD.

These realistic expectations were notably absent from two infamous Olympic legacy busts – Montreal (’76) and Barcelona (’92). In both cases they built massive Olympic parks with a wide range of permanent venues, forgetting that their cities did not have the population or the sporting culture to keep using them. In both cases they also made sweeping predictions about how being an ‘Olympic City’ would transform their importance in global financial and political terms. This didn’t happen. Instead, people still know Barcelona for Gaudi’s iconic Cathedral and their football team and Montreal for being the only French city in North America with the world’s most successful ice hockey team.

But these games will create a legacy because the team behind them – in the face of a number of crises and controversial moments – have maintained their focus and worked to realistic expectations.

Lessons for CR leaders

The lessons for most Corporate Responsibility leaders could be the same - focus and expectations.
 
Too often an organisation will choose two or three very broad themes for their community investment programmes instead of one very specific and directional one. For example, they might have health, education and employability as three ‘core themes’, which means they could partner with tens of thousands of charities and community groups. Instead they could focus efforts on supporting young people with life limiting diseases, on improving numeracy amongst adults who have not finished their education or on getting young people into more permanent jobs.

Similarly, the reality is that in resource terms (both financial and non-financial), very few corporate partnerships are worth as much to charities as the equivalent private donations. Yet typically corporate partners are more demanding and expect credit for helping to solve issues that are out of proportion with their input - the equivalent of Lord Coe and his team expecting 20million people to tune in to next year’s junior athletic championships just like they watched Usain Bolt in the 100m final.

If Corporate Responsibility professionals take anything from London 2012 beyond their own Olympic experience, it should be:

1. Stay focused. (And, if necessary refine your focus to something that really resonates with your stakeholders).
2. Work to realistic expectations.

The rest should take care of itself.

Find out how CAF can help you develop a focused CR strategy with realistic expectations.

Derek Ray-Hill, Senior Company Relations Manager, CAF

A is for Alignment

It is widely illustrated by leaders in CR practice that forward thinking and progressive CR aligns the overall approach and strategy to the core values and activity of the business. This ensures a mutual benefit both for the business and the beneficiary.

What does this actually mean? 

There is a lesson here for both the instigator of a CR strategy within a company, and the charity looking to secure funding and long term corporate partnerships. 

There has been an evolution away from the traditional approach of corporate philanthropy which shied away from perceived benefit for the organisation.  It is no longer necessary to be satisfied with a little reflected glory and reputational boost.  An expectation of return on investment is not only acceptable, but often required internally and considered to be good practice. 

The third sector now, more than ever, needs to make a convincing case to companies to secure partnerships and funding.

It appears that when it comes to charity, businesses are thinking business and charities need to understand how businesses think.

For the business strategy

Alignment of CR strategy makes a great deal of sense for companies.  CR activities and programmes which reflect the company culture, brand and operations, should create authentic  community engagement which has a benefit to the company and the wider community. In the best cases, CR should become a central driver for a company, informing the way it moves and grows, and offering the best chance of a genuinely responsible business.

When considering specific charity partnerships

The alignment of a potential charity partner with a business is possibly one of the most important elements to inform the decision.  The brands need to make sense together, the benefits of the partnership and any projects that come from the relationship should ensure dual benefit for both organisations. 

Is it right that a volunteering programme should cost a charity more than the benefit it brings them?  Is it a good enough reason that a senior person in the company has a personal connection with a cause? 

Good alignment of strategy leads to sustainable programmes, clarity of aims, engagement of stakeholders and essentially success.

Read how CAF’s Advisory and Consultancy team helped BT align its global strategy to local communities in Brazil and India on the CAF website.
 
Coming soon - B is for….

Andy Grazebrook, Senior Company Relations Manager, CAF